Having cleaned it to her satisfaction, she ripped one of the towels into smaller strips and tied them firmly around his hand. "There." she said. "That should hold you. Though if you have some leather to put over it it'll be more likely to last through all the shoveling."

The rain, which had been threatening for awhile, now started to come down, and she gathered her things up, tossing the dirty water into the garden. "Off with you, then. And keep it clean. Jason doesn't need the distraction, and your hands are needed right now."

She looked at the boy. "Maybe you should go with him, make sure he obeys orders and doesn't cost Lord Ambrosius much-needed labor."